Setting Goals For Your Food Truck Business

Setting goals are important for food truck vendors, but they can also be harmful to your mobile food business if you aren’t careful. Food truck owners need to set yourself up for success when it comes to setting annual business goals.

At its simplest, a goal is just something you aim for. Goals also give vendors a structure to work. This will help to focus your efforts by helping you rule out actions that won’t contribute to achieving the goals you’ve set.

When you start setting goals for your food truck, shoot for these qualities.

Specificity. You have a better chance of achieving a goal if it’s specific. Raising money for your truck isn’t a specific goal; raising $35,000 by May 1 is.
Optimism. Be positive when you set your goals. Being able to pay your food truck bills isn’t exactly an inspirational goal. Achieving financial security phrases your goal in a more positive manner, thus firing up your energy to attain it.
Realism. If you set a goal of making $100,000 a month when you’ve never earned that much in a year, that goal is unrealistic. Begin with baby steps, such as increasing your monthly income by 20 percent. Once your first goal is met, you can reach for larger ones.

Tips For Setting Goals For Your Food Truck

Commit To Your Goals

Make a commitment and stick with it. Once you’ve set your plan in motion, stay motivated to see your goals through to the end. Don’t procrastinate or second guess your decisions, as this will only delay the process.

Involve Your Team

Whenever possible, it’s important to include your food truck team in goal setting. Employees can be an integral part of your business achieving its goals, so it makes sense to consider their input while setting objectives. Your staff can also keep you grounded: they might have more familiarity with the day-to-day operations that could act as obstacles.

Set Deadlines

If you don’t set a deadline for your goals, there is a greater chance for them to fail. Goals without deadlines indicate that you aren’t committed. Determining a deadline puts your goal into context. Pick a reasonable date that isn’t too aggressive, but also not too passive.

Reward Yourself

During the goal setting process, there’s one very important thing to remember. Once you or your team has accomplished a goal or reached a milestone within your goal, make sure to mark the occasion. You’ve invested an incredible amount of time, energy and determination to reach this goal, so make sure to take a moment to celebrate.

Allow Goal Evolution

Vendors need to allow for reconsidering a goal, changing your strategy or even getting rid of it all together. This doesn’t show weakness or failure, it’s efficiency. Things change. People change. Goals can change, too.

The Bottom Line

The most important rule of goal-setting is integrity. Starting a food truck business with your eyes wide open about your goals lets you face the decisions with better self-assurance and a greater chance of success. When everyone in your food truck team works as one when setting goals you will find your business celebrating successes at the end of the year as opposed to dealing with failures.

How do you handle setting goals for your food truck? Do you have any additional tips? Share your thoughts on this topic on social media. Facebook | Twitter